Juvenile Arthritis

A Welcoming Home for Families

The Arthritis Foundation is boldly leading the fight against juvenile arthritis (JA) and other childhood rheumatic diseases. We understand your unique needs and challenges, and offer the focused attention you and your family deserve. We’re all-in – strongly committed to making sure you have easy access to life-changing resources, community and care. Together, we can look forward to saying Yes, from here on out. Yes to running. Yes to playing. Yes to just being a kid.

We have many other resources and information to help you on your journey with juvenile arthritis. Take time to visit our website devoted your family, www.KidsGetArthritisToo.org. It features many timely and relevant resources, including news about the latest treatments, an educational rights toolkit, stories of kids and teens told in their own words and more.

A diagnosis of juvenile arthritis can turn life upside down and make you feel powerless. The Arthritis Foundation understands and cares. That’s why we offer our JA Power Pack – a toolkit with useful information and tools to assist newly diagnosed children and teens, as well as their parents. These resources were designed to give you and your family the POWER to make living with JA easier.

Our JA camp programs give kids living with juvenile arthritis and other childhood rheumatic diseases the chance to be themselves. Each of our 50 camp programs provides a safe and nurturing environment that is supervised by trained staff and medical professionals. All camps feature traditional summer camping activities, from canoeing and archery to campfires and sing-alongs. In addition to forging new friendships and amazing memories, campers gain a better understanding of their disease while increasing independence and self-confidence.

The Arthritis Foundation hosts JA family events throughout the year to help kids and their families live better with JA and other childhood rheumatic disease. These programs are informative and supportive events that deal with various aspects of living with JA, including an overview of the disease, medications, pain management techniques, exercise and more!

The Arthritis Foundation’s annual Juvenile Arthritis Conference is where kids, teens, young adults and their families come together from across the world to get better informed about juvenile arthritis and other childhood rheumatic diseases. Attendees are given the opportunity to share stories, exchange tips that can make living with their condition easier, and build lifelong memories and friendships.

The Arthritis Foundation partners with the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) to find the causes of pediatric rheumatic diseases, develop the most effective therapies to treat those affected and ultimately find a cure. Through the CARRA Registry, researchers collect information on individual patients over time. Questions about medical and family history, how the disease affects life and physical function all contribute to a better understanding of pediatric rheumatic diseases. You and your family may help solve the mysteries of pediatric rheumatic disease by participating in this important research. To find out if you are eligible, talk to your healthcare professional and ask if they are a CARRAnet site.